Have a Coke and a plaque-free smile!

Bad habit that it is, I really think if it wasn’t for Coke and Pepsi I’d float away. Even though I swore I’d be off them for my time here, I’ve backslidden. Badly. As in, one a day. Caloric-wise, really, that’s what keeps me rooted because it’s my big splurge once a day. I mean, seriously, I pretty much only eat rice other than that.

Coke is plentiful here, and so far as I know it’s the same as in America – not the good corn syrup that it is in Morocco. There, I pretended it was good for me, or at least not bad.

Pepsi can also be found here, and at more than just the one hanut high on the hill, which is where the one was in Midelt. And since Pepsi is cheaper than Coke, I’m back on that for the most part.

But sometimes you need the bite. You know what I mean. Coke has that bite that Pepsi just doesn’t, and there are days it’s necessary.

One day in Giant, my usual supermarket, I decided I’d get my Coke for the day as I finished up. And NO WHERE in all the refrigerated units could I find a cold one. And although I prefer cans, I couldn’t so much as find a bottle, either. Cold Coke. How hard can this be?

There was plenty of Coke Zero and tons of diet Coke (it’s not “Coka Light” here). Lots of juices branded under the bottling authority of those fine Monroe-turned Atlanta folks.

Not a darn cold one in the entire grocery store. So I went home and tried my 5-11. Not a cold one in there, either.

I think I settled for an A&W that time, but I’m not sure what it is, but for some reason, it’s tough to get a straight-up Coke sometimes.

Today, I did manage to find a cold one – in a glass bottle, which is better than a can.

And all I did to get it was to make a dentist appointment.

Since I hadn’t been to the dentist since Oct. 2009, in Morocco, I figured for better or worse, it’s about time. I have had no problems or anything, but since I’ve poured a lot into my mouth over the years (boy, for dirty-minded folks, you sure can read a lot into that, but believe me – there’s nothing there) I wanted to make sure all’s well.

In the Ambassador Mall one day – the one I can see from my back porch – I found a dentist and got the information. It took awhile to find a month where I had enough money left over at the end to be able to afford it, but I finally went on Monday.

Although I do have health insurance, dental isn’t covered, but the cleaning and checkup (no X-rays) came to maybe $60, which I felt was reasonable. I just needed a month with money and time, and that happened this month.

So I headed out for the appointment, stopping at a computer place to check on Microsoft testing. I need to do that too, but not now. At that place, I got invited to a church that’s nearby me, so I might head to that sometime.

Really, even before I even got to the dentist, I accomplished a lot.

After my arrival at the office (top floor of the mall), I got waved into a waiting room, complete with magazines, a TV, books and food and drinks.

Seriously. I have never seen a dentist’s office with muffins before. And tea and Mentos. And, in a little fridge, a cold Coke!

I couldn’t believe it. I mean, as I recall, a big point of a dentist’s mantra is to avoid sugars, yet I was looking at a mini-mother lode. What a country of contradictions!

I downed a few Mentos – which got stuck in my teeth, naturally -- drank some water and then popped the top of a Coke and settled in. It was almost disappointing to have to go back when they called me. I saved the little chocolate chip muffin for later. Just couldn’t bring myself to eat it right before cleaned my teeth. It seemed wrong.

This is the third country in which I’ve gone to a dentist and “turn and spit” is pretty much all the same in any language. I think the little plaque scraper thing was a sander here, but other than that, it was same old, same old -- with a Cool Mint Listerine rinse.

After getting the chompers buffed, I celebrated the no-cavity status by grabbing a few more Mentos for the road before heading to the front desk, where, after shelling out my Rp. 500k, I got handed a gift bag.

I reckon freebies are big here. I took a peek and I got a mug, a toothbrush and some toothpaste, all decorated with little ribbons and tucked away in a little green bag. There’s also some kind of discount card to a coffee shop and a coupon, presumably for my next visit, though I had absolutely no idea what she said.

The mug is a basic plain white one that says “Family Health Dental” on it. Once I got it out of the plastic, though, I realized it’s not imprinted on the mug, it’s just a clear decal slapped on there. Spared no expense on that one.